The group has attracted support from around the world, despite the BBC confirming that a new series will be made and that “Top Gear will be around for a long time yet”.

The programme’s long-time producer, Any Wilman, began the controversy with a blog post looking at the recently completed Series 14, and conceding that previous runs had been more consistently entertaining.

“There is a grumble and a rumble in the air from some of our regulars that we have lost the plot, we've disappeared up our a***s and we're predictable,” he wrote on the show’s official blog. He then continued: "It's fair to say that this incarnation of Top Gear is nearer the end than the beginning and our job is to land this plane with its dignity still intact."

Even as the BBC moved to allay viewers’ fears, and despite confirmation that the show will return in 2010, the number of people joining the new group is still rising. Some commenters have noted the BBC’s position, but the bulk of contributors to the group continue to suggest that the axing Top Gear could cost the Corporation in revenue form licence fees and overseas sales. Top Gear was the iPlayer’s most popular show in 2009.